


A Song Like a Whale

by Rosage



Category: Fire Emblem Echoes: Mou Hitori no Eiyuu Ou | Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, Fire Emblem Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, F/F, Species Swap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-16
Updated: 2017-10-16
Packaged: 2019-01-18 02:43:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12379236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosage/pseuds/Rosage
Summary: Living on the isolated island of Ram, Faye craves the approval of her friends, Alm and Celica. When they announce a journey to find Mila, she travels to the Seabound Shrine to retrieve its legendary sword. But more than necrodragons call the shrine home, and even a girl her age may not be what she seems.





	A Song Like a Whale

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to everyone who encouraged me while I worked on this.

The moment she steps out of the canoe, Faye hears the growls. They’re distant, only audible because the island is otherwise silent, but they reverberate in her ribs. Her boot squelches as she pulls it out of the muck, making her freeze with her foot in the air. She lowers it when the growls do not grow louder. On drier land, she scrapes the muck off her boot, then continues with a thumping heart.

Across the flat land, two necrodragons come into view. They’re pacing in front of the mouth of the cave, their tattered wings like torn sails scraping along the ground. She wonders if they were supposed to fly, or if they’ve always dragged like that, good only for floating in the water. She pictures fangs like a piranha.

_I can’t return to Alm and Celica empty-handed_. _I have to be brave, like them._ A dog she played with too hard once bit her. This can’t be that different, can it?

Her tome trembles against her chest. Perhaps she can slip past them. She only has so much energy to expend on magic, after all, and there may be more enemies inside.

The island only provides stray trees, bereft of leaves, for cover. She skirts the shore until she comes to the end of the trees, then darts and ducks behind the first one. Its trunk barely covers her. She presses against it, still dizzy from the roiling waves. Though she picked a day with a clear sky to come here, her little canoe had been tossed about. Maybe if the sky were more overcast, her shadow wouldn’t stick out beyond the tree roots, but even in good weather she rowed hard enough to make her arms ache.

She’s grateful she has practice sneaking around the priory. She learned by following Genny’s silent steps while they played games of pretend, and she had to break in to steal the Seraphim spell she carries. _Borrow. I’ll return it_. Her footfalls stay quiet as she hurries on to the next tree.

When she is as close to the cave as she can get, the stench of decay makes her nose wrinkle. She risks poking it out to get a better look. From a distance she could pretend the dragons were little larger than sheep, but they must be twice her height. It’s as if something gouged out part of their heads. Skin is torn away from raw chunks on the side of their faces, and part of their skulls crown them visibly.

The moment both dragons face away, Faye sprints for the cave entrance. As she turns to see if they’ve noticed her, she kicks something hard enough to make her wince. It rattles as it rolls and hits something else.

A bone, striking another bone. Dozens that had blended in with the ashy, sandy dirt.

She gasps. A screech splits the air behind her.

She whips around to see the necrodragons bearing down on her with slow, scraping movements. She could still run. She could beat them to the cave.

And then what? They would trap her inside, where it’s dark and unfamiliar to all but them.

She opens her tome and glances at its pages, the prayer to Mila swimming in her vision. Raising her hand, she offers it as a conduit for the magic. It wiggles inside her, crawling like a hundred bugs. The closest necrodragon casts a shadow over her as it bends down, baring rows of fangs tinier than she’d imagined.

Her blast of light forces her eyes shut. She opens them in time to see the necrodragon fly back, the light fracturing into feathers like Mila is bolstering the dragon’s wings.

It falls against the other dragon, which squawks beneath it. Faye bolts past the bones, inside the cave, keeping at a run even as she slips against wet rock.

* * *

Faye’s knees buckle, forcing her to halt. Panting, she checks herself for injuries, but the spell only sapped her energy. She uses just enough more to summon a flame that paints her silhouette high up the cave walls. It makes her look larger than she feels.

Drips from stalactites echo through the cavern. Faye carries on past tall grass until she comes to a pillar separating the path. Nothing stirs along either side, so she curves around a random direction, wading through water that swirls around her ankles.

Her pace is slow until she hears a splash behind her. A larger splash, then a roar.

Though she thought she couldn’t, she runs. She certainly can’t fight another battle. _Why didn’t I make sure they were dead?_ Celica would never have been foolish enough not to check, and Alm would never have been meek enough to bolt.

Then again, they are also kind. Maybe they would have been merciful...

Faye trips over a vine and falls face-first in the dirt. Her flame goes out, leaving her in darkness. The splashing and groaning echo louder, closer, until they seem to surround her. She holds her breath and lies still, hoping she’ll go unnoticed if she doesn’t make a sound.

Sound _is_ coming from ahead of her, sounds of struggling followed by bits of song that remind Faye of the whale she once heard by the pier. Light penetrates her closed eyes. It ebbs, and she opens them to spots that dance in her vision.

“If someone is there…” a voice says. A human voice, the last sound Faye expected.

She scrambles to her feet, listening as she wobbles. Silence stretches behind her. She summons her flame, a weaker one this time, but enough to show her the speaker.

The vine she tripped over has ensnared a girl her age by the ankle and torso. Faye hurries to free her, pulling at the vine until her knuckles ache, but it only tightens. The girl gasps.

“Hold still.” Faye gets out her knife. She can barely see the edge of the vine, and her hand shakes. “Hold real, real still.”

Carefully she slices through the vine until chunks fall to the ground and the rest recedes. The girl brushes herself off. “Thank you,” she says. “I do not know what is with this place lately. It’s never turned against me like this.”

“Who are you? Humans aren’t supposed to be here,” Faye says.

“Yet here you are.”

Faye puts away her knife and hugs her tome to her chest. “I didn’t come here for you. I only freed you because other people would have, and they’re not here.” She has to complete her task and return to them. She’s so close. This is probably some kind of trap. “Good luck with whatever it is you’re doing.” She continues forward, her chin up as if dirt doesn’t cling to it.

“Hold. How did you come this far? The necrodragons should keep out intruders.”

“I took care of them. Or I thought I had.”

“Yes, one followed you in. I… stopped him.” Pain fills the girl’s voice. Even restrained, she must have cast the spell that took out the dragon. It impresses Faye despite herself.

_Celica could have done that._

“I guess you saved me, then.” _Alm_ has _done that_. Faye clears her throat. “Thanks.”

“You have saved me as well, so it seems we are even.”

“Yeah, even.” Faye edges toward the inside of the cave.

“However, I still must learn why you are here, or I’m afraid I cannot let you proceed further.”

“Let me? You’re not in charge of me.”

“I am in charge of this shrine. Outsiders are not to defile it.” The girl is still obscured, but she has drawn herself upright, and her shadow surpasses Faye’s to bend around the ceiling. Faye hugs her tome tighter. “I do not wish to fight,” the girl continues, sounding tired. “Too many bones decorate this island. But if you proceed, you will get lost and starve. None leave this place alive.”

“I have to. I have to go home. And not as I am.”

“Returning home in one piece is the most you can ask now.”

“No! If I return like this, they’ll abandon me.”

The girl sucks in a breath. After a pause, she says, “Follow me.”

Faye scarcely seems to have a choice, other than to run past the necrodragon carcass to the entrance. To beg the priory to forgive her theft and trespassing, and beg Alm and Celica to forgive her failure.

She follows, her smaller shadow a step behind, as always.

* * *

At first glance, the statue of Mila looks like the one in the priory. When blue light fills the room, Faye notices the tail trailing out of Mila’s gown and the horn protruding from her forehead. She turns to ask about it and gasps.

A similar tail twitches at the girl’s feet, fins flapping against stone. The hands she’s folded in front of her do not lock, as webbing sticks between the knuckles. Whether the blue tinge of her skin is natural or due to the light, Faye can’t say; she only knows that when the hair framing the girl’s face shifts, it reveals gills.

_A song like a whale’s_ , is all Faye can think.

The girl, or whatever she is, clears her throat. The sound sticks like a suction. “I thought it best we see each other before we continue deeper. The path ahead is treacherous even without distractions.”

“Yeah,” Faye says. She realizes how foolish she sounds. “Listen, um...”

“You’re wondering what I am.”

“Yeah. I mean, well, yeah.”

“I am the sea dragon. Once, there were others like me--or, it might be more accurate to say, others whom I used to be like. I took this form to avoid madness, and they did not.”

Most of that flies over Faye’s head. “So, this is your shrine?”

“This shrine honors the Earth Mother. She cannot afford to leave the mainland, so we protect the sea in her place.”

“Then, the necrodragons?”

“They were friends of mine. Now, they can do nothing more than guard this place alongside me.”

“In that case I… I hurt your friends.”

“You did them a mercy. Because they did not take this form, they have degenerated slowly, hovering between life and death.”

“Can’t we help them?”

“Nothing can be done. However, you are the first adventurer to ask.” The gills along Silque’s jaw flutter, and she smiles. “I would hear your name and title.”

“Faye. Just Faye.”

“Faye of where?”

“Ram island. It’s just off Novis. The only shepherd island this side of Zofia.” Feeling beyond silly, she clamps her mouth shut before she can ramble about sheep.

“Novis.” Silque closes her eyes and seems for a moment to be very far away. “Very well, Faye of Ram. If it is within my power, I will grant you a boon.”

“Actually, I came here for a sword.” Silque’s eyes fly open, and Faye pales. Why did she admit that? She’ll get sent to sea dragon jail, or at least Silque’s stomach. “I’m not with the pirates or anything. My friends are going to go off to find Mila, and I thought...”

“Mila? Is she not in her temple?”

“I dunno. Nothing’s growing. We can barely even feed the herds.”

“I see. Then it must be happening to her, as well.” Like the necrodragons’ growls, Silque’s mournful tone reverberates within Faye. “Allow me to join your group. I must see Mila for myself.”

Join? She thinks she can just _join_ Alm and Celica without knowing them, without doing anything for them? What does she think Faye risked her life here for? “I don’t even know if they’ll let me go. Why would they take some strange creature?”     

Silque recoils, her tail thrashing and her face purple. “I had thought you weren’t scared of me.”

Faye flushes. “I’m not scared!”

“Repulsed, then.”

“No, I…” Faye’s flush deepens. She drops her chin, which weighs down her neck, reminding her of her exhaustion. “Look, I don’t do well with most people.”

“Am I a person to you, then? Many humans think us all monsters.”

Faye thinks of the pirate who came ashore when she was smaller than his axe, the one that would have split her if not for Alm. She thinks of the pirates who stopped her family from coming home. Celica avenged them while Faye waited and worried, in the end never seeing them. At times she pictured the pirates with skin as blue as Silque’s, without her soft eyes.

“A lot of humans are monsters,” Faye says.

Afraid to see Silque’s reaction, Faye keeps her head down and chews her lip. She’s barged into Silque’s home like those pirates did hers. Island girls are raised with manners; she’s not some some sea dog. “I’m sorry about what I said,” Faye continues. “I’m just so worried. My friends’ll be in danger, and I don’t want to be left behind again.”

“Nor do I.”

“Then I wish we could all go together. But like I said, I don’t even know if I can.”

“If you bring this sword, will they let you go?”

“I dunno.” The question unsettles her. She hadn’t thought to ask, hadn’t wanted to risk rejection until she had something to show them. “I thought it’d prove that I’m useful. Having a strong sword would protect them.”

“You weren’t going to wield it yourself?”

That finally snaps up her gaze. Silque looks dead serious, if quizzical. “Me? I’m only a mage. A mage from Ram.”

“Many mages take up the sword after receiving Mila’s blessing. If you agree to let me accompany you, then step onto the altar with me. You will have your power.” She holds out a hand that Faye awkwardly tries to take around the webbing, the thick nails, and the cold, clammy skin.

_So warm,_ she thinks she hears Silque say, though her lips don’t move.

* * *

Atop the altar, Silque lets go, and Faye feels unsteady. It’s a relief to kneel, even though the stone is hard and cold through her skirt, her knees less used to long bouts of prayer than the priory clerics.

Magic swims through her as if trying to find a place to settle. Rather than worthiness, vertigo overtakes her when she stands, and Silque catches her shoulders.

“What just happened?” Faye asks. “I do feel a little different, but…”

“Mila has granted you the will to expand your horizons. You must find a capable teacher to grant you the skill.”

_To expand her horizons,_ Silque’s voice echoes in her mind. Faye shivers, and Silque releases her.

Again Faye follows her, this time into a chamber where Silque asks if she notices anything. By this point it’s a miracle if the room’s not spinning, and scanning it, Faye sees nothing but fountains welded to the wall. With a pitying look Silque tells her to drink. The moment she does, she feels energy surge within her. Laughing, she splashes more of it on her face to wash off the grime from her fall. After the fountain dries she shifts from foot to foot, unable to stay still now that her strength seems to have not only been regained, but exceeded.

Silque muffles her laugh with a polite hand, but Faye notices. “You will certainly be able to carry the sword now,” Silque says.

With her senses sharpened, Faye feels a draft and straightens. She walks alongside the wall, running a hand over it until chunks crumble between her fingers. She glances back at Silque, who smiles enigmatically. Irritation fuels the blast of magic Faye uses to take the wall down.

A rumble makes her halt. She pictures the room caving in and struggles to breathe. The moment passes, and she turns again to Silque, who this time tells her to proceed.

Relieved by the direction, she walks halls lined with mossy stone. Compared to the opening of the cave, the air is cool and--like her mouth--surprisingly dry. Where the path widens she steps around the remains of pillars that have fallen across it. How long has this place been here? How long has _Silque_ been here?

Finally they arrive at a chamber. Atop a flight of stairs, a coffin on a dias sends chills down Faye’s spine, and Silque appears grave.

“I cannot give this sword to just anyone. Are you resolved to use it?”

Even an hour ago, she would never. Such honors suit Alm and Celica’s strength. But she has to protect them--she must. And she came all this way.

_Without them,_ a voice reminds her.

“I am.”

For once Silque’s smile isn’t damningly mysterious. It’s small, but it’s warm, with a shine in her eyes.

They climb the stairs together. Silque places her hands at the edge of the coffin and sucks in a breath. “Mila, forgive me for this sacrilege.” Her whisper is almost obscured by the creak of the stone lid being pushed aside.

With a wrinkled nose, Faye peers in at the skeleton that has made the coffin her bed. A sword lies in her arms, which clasp it to her ribcage like she can fight terrors beyond the grave. The thought is ridiculous, but some part of Faye feels guilty for prying the blade away. She braces herself for the skeleton to rise and fight her for it, but the dead stays dead, and all she hears is water dripping onto stone.

She turns her attention to the blade. For such a heavy burden, it’s light in her hands. Its hilt almost seems to be made of coral, its blade catching a sheen like the shells Faye collects. The longer she holds it, the more refreshed she feels.

She’s gotten what she came for, but it doesn’t ease the tightness in her chest. “You’re supposed to be guarding this place, right? Are you really just letting me take this?” It hardly helps Faye to point it out, but she can’t hold back her curiosity, or the nagging worry that this is all a trap.

“To be honest, I shouldn’t, but even I can no longer hear Mila’s voice. Something must be done. Without the Mother, I…”

Silque’s poise wavers, and Faye crumbles a little along with her. It must be lonely living in a cave with only undead friends.

She attaches the sword to her belt and tucks her tome under one arm, then holds out the other hand. “Come on. Let’s see Alm and Celica try to turn down a legendary sword wielder and her guardian dragon.”

Silque’s lips part in surprise before stretching into a grin. She takes Faye’s hand, fingers fumbling to fit, and together they descend the steps.


End file.
